Of Lime and Popsicles
by Paranoid Escapism
Summary: Summer days, driftin’ away, but ah those summer nights. [9x6]


**Author:** Paranoid Aza

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Kingdom Hearts, the rights to Kingdom Hearts, or the rights to its characters. Tis a sad, sad thing. Every time I am forced to write it, my heart gets broken just a little bit more.

**Summary: **Summer days, driftin' away, but _ah _those summer nights. (9x6)

**Rating & Warnings: **K+. Just for shonen ai and a kiss.

**Author's Notes: **Teeheehee.

**Pairings: **Demion (or Zemyx with uke!Zexy, for all you picky people out there).

**Setting:** Ever seen that one show on Nickelodeon called _Hey Arnold!_? Yeah, the setting is like that.

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It was one of those hot days where you didn't want to do much of anything. Your skin is sticky with sweat, the fans don't generate any type of relief at all, and there's nothing good on television. Of course, your entire apartment complex, not to mention more than half the city, looses power thanks to all of the appliances running, and the shower doesn't work because there just _has_ to be a pipe broken somewhere. One of those days where all you want to do is lay in bed, but you can't because the stupid flannel covers are too hot so you end up sprawled on the tile in your kitchen just because it's cooler than the couch.

I hate those kinds of days. They're excruciatingly boring and they never seem to have an end. I hate how thick the air gets, like you could cut it with a spoon or something. I hate the prickly feeling that your sweat creates, the feeling that there are a million bugs crawling over your arms and you can't get them off. I hate how your hair sticks to your face and neck because you're too unskilled to tie it back, and how your clothes always feel damp, and how there is _never_ anything satisfying to eat.

I suppose I could go to the beach, but the thought of riding the subway there and back made the idea seem completely repulsive. I never liked the beach much anyway. The windows in my small, one bedroom apartment are open, waiting hopefully for a breeze to pass through them, but sadly the only things that enter are flies and other creatures seeking solace from the heat. If the electricity were working, I would have opened the freezer in search of relief, but with the power out the only thing that would accomplish would be soiling my pathetic stash of food.

Lazy. That's how I felt. Lazy and sluggish and languid and completely drained of energy thanks to the blistering summer sun. And humidity. It was all the summer's fault, with its stupid heat and stupid humidity that made me feel like a piece of already chewed gum rather than a human.

Only the children had energy to spare. They spent their time playing baseball in shorts, or eating ice cream cones that usually ended up half melted on the sidewalk. From my spot on the kitchen ground, I could hear the shouts and laughter of children. No doubt one of the older kids had managed to pop open a fire hydrant. Or maybe they had gotten into the pipes somehow? That could be the reason I wasn't sitting in a nice cold bath right now.

Horns blared from the street, drivers obviously annoyed with both the heat and the traffic. For some reason, the traffic is always worse in the city when it gets hot (or rainy, or snowy). I could only guess that the subway was just as bad. The humidity seemed to collect underground, aided by the mass of bodies, all of which were in also in a mood worse than usual. It was all thanks to the summer.

It was at that moment I wondered where Demyx could possibly be. My boyfriend should be stuck in this apartment being tortured by the everlasting heat with me. For all I knew, he was probably standing outside with the kids, enjoying a quickly melting lime flavoured popsicle. It would be just like him too.

The door clicked and squeaked open and I strained my neck to look at who was standing in the doorway. Light flooded into the otherwise lightless room. Speak of the devil and he shall come.

Demyx stood in the doorway, looking absolutely proud of himself with his hands on his hips, squinting into the darkness of the apartment trying to find me. The sunlight from outside cast a silhouette around his figure, making his tanned skin appear even darker and creating the illusion of a halo around his glistening blond hair. Despite that, I could still see his azure eyes glisten as he found me laying on the ground and walked over.

"Hey, I opened the fire hydrant, and Axel took his pick up to go get everybody watermelons. All there kids are out there right now. It's really fun! Come play with us, Zex."

I turned my head to regard him with a bored expression. Now that I was not blinded by the light streaming in from the open door, I could clearly see the faint green that stained his lips. So he had been eating a popsicle... "You opened the hydrant?"

Demux nodded his head ecstatically, long, wet spikes of hair dripping water atop his shoulders. I couldn't help but smile. Demyx was a year younger than me (although about half a foot taller), but he was still quite the kid at heart. If the children on the street, or the blocks surrounding ever needed an extra player for kickball it was always my door they ended up banging on, demanding that I let Demyx come out and play. Didn't they know he was already twenty-two? And it's not like I'm his mother or anything.

Demyx walked into the apartment, wet shoes making shlorping sounds beneath him as he made his way over to stand in between the counter and the wall where the living room meets the kitchen. I frowned. He was dripping on the tile…

"That's right," he answered, resting his hands on his hips. "Everyone was looking so bored and hot so I decided to have a little fun."

"But you opened a fire hydrant. Demyx, isn't that illegal? You're going to get fined. And _you_ are the one that is going to have to pay it off, you know." I closed my eyes and turned my head to lay my cheek on the tile. "Speaking of which, why aren't you working?"

"Old man Cid closed down shop way early today," Demyx answered with a wave of his hand. "He said it was too hot, and you know what? I agree. Come on, not even the ice cream man is working today, Zexion! This heat is unbelievable. Come outside and play in the water with us. It totally cools you down."

I groaned. Demyx was so persistent, even after my attempt at changing to subject. He was stubborn and usually always got his way. No wonder he as more popular with kids than people his own age. Then again, I was partly my fault for always caving into his demands.

"I don't really think I want to," I whined in response to the younger man's request. "It's just too hot and sunny to go outside and do something that requires movement."

Demyx crossed his arms and leaned against the counter, ignoring the pointed glare I was directing at the growing puddle under his feet. I was _not_ the one that would clean that up later. "Come on babe, it's a lot of fun. Plus it will make you forget how hot you are."

I wrinkled my nose and looked up at him. "So would a nice cold shower, but I bet you're the reason I can't have that."

The younger man chuckled and shook his head. "Stop being such a whiner. You know that the hydrant has nothing to do with stuff like that."

When I didn't respond, he leaned down and picked up my hand, crossed across my chest, and began pulling on it in an effort to get me off the ground. I frowned, a few inches away from where I had been previously (although on considerably cooler tile, I must admit), too close to the expanding puddle for my liking, and now with a semi wet hand.

Demyx donned on a dismal puppy dog pout, letting out a pathetic whimper to emphasize his wordless pleading. For some reason his pouts were amazingly convincing, or at least they were when used against me.

"_Please_ Zexy? I don't like being outside having fun while you're shriveling away in this stinky apartment."

I wrinkled my nose. This apartment was cleaned by me. It most certainly did _not_ smell. Did it?

"You never come outside to have fun with us," Demyx continued. "I'm starting to think that you are allergic to the sun. Or a vampire. Either one. Although being a vampire is much cooler than just having an allergy to UV rays. And it'd be kind of kinky, don't you think?"

He finished his statement with a smile, followed by another pathetic whine and pout when he noticed that I was looking at him with an amused 'what the heck are you talking about' look. I almost wanted to say yes, just to make him stop whining and to spare his dignity as a man. So, with a drawn out sigh, I did.

"Fine, fine. I'll play with you guys. But Dem, could you pull my hair back first? It's _really_ annoying me."

I sat up and crossed my legs, letting my body concave in on its self because I was just feeling way too lazy to sit straight like my mother had taught me. Demyx grabbed an abandoned hair tie from a pile of junk on the kitchen counter that we meant to clean up a week ago but never got around to doing. He kneeled down behind me and gathered up my hair – silver with a tint of blue, it was getting to be way too long, especially for the summer time – and (making sure to leave some hanging in front just to annoy me) tied it back loosely.

I fingered the simple miniature ponytail that now held the majority of my hair, muttering a quite thank you to the younger man. The smile on his face was like his usual ones – big, energetic, and happy, so much so that it made me smile a bit as well – as he returned to his feet and held out his hand for me to take. Now that I had agreed I didn't have much option to change my mind, lest Demyx start whining again, so I took the offered help and allowed my boyfriend to pull me to my feet as well.

"Thanks Zexion," he whispered and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before guiding me out of the apartment.

I hate days like these. When your body is all sticky with sweat and your hair sticks to your face and neck because you're too unskilled to tie it back. When the children are dancing, laughing, frolicking around you and there's nothing you can do but smile and laugh with them, because, really, you're still young too and being grown up is so boring and hard sometimes. I hate the blistering summer sun and how as it meshes, fades, falls into the horizon it takes its burning heat with it. I hate how early the street lights come on, and how everyone has to leave because their mothers are calling them from their apartment window or the complex stoop, standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips and a giant cooking spoon wrapped in her fingers.

The empty watermelon rinds lay forgotten on the side of the street as I too go back to my apartment, Demyx in tow, shivering because the summer night is so starkly contrasting to its opposite. My small, two room home isn't much better because, as it turns out, the power came back on hours ago and now it feels like an ice land. Demyx offers to make us some form of dinner while I go into our room to collect fresh towels and dry clothes to change into.

I'll have to admit, summer isn't that bad.

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Aza: I think I may want to make this a 2 or 3 shot instead of just leaving it there. What do you guys think?


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